Question about 223 boltface..opening up for 224 Weatheby Mag...

K

kolineman

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Gentlemen- question for ya. Looking at setting up a rifle for the old school 224 Weatherby Mag. Is opening up a 223 boltface (.384) the best way to go for this? I believe the 224 Weatherby is .430....just asking if anyone has done this or has any opinion on a possible best route.

Thanks in advance...
 
kolineman said:
Gentlemen- question for ya. Looking at setting up a rifle for the old school 224 Weatherby Mag. Is opening up a 223 boltface (.384) the best way to go for this? I believe the 224 Weatherby is .430....just asking if anyone has done this or has any opinion on a possible best route.

Thanks in advance...
Click to expand...

You will have to address the extractor, and possibly the ejector. The general course is to add a Sako style Extractor. I won't get into the safety concerns by using a Sako Extractor, but I will just say that using one defeats Remington's "three rings of steel" that is a big safety feature of the push feed Remington 700.

The ejector plunger might be ok, as the difference from center is only about .025 inch. It might work just fine.

You might end up bushing the bolt nose, as all of the groove that encapsulates the original Extractor will still be there. The ridge will probably catch the rim of the 224 making ejection iffy.
 
thank you Jackie...

Thank you for the good details...

Its actually a Weatherby Mark V SuperVarmintmaster.

I have one in a 223 already that just flat shoots, like really shoots. I found this one a while back with this exact thought in mind...got a good deal on it for being more less a heavy bag style varminter, not too good to walk around with. The barrel is 26", serial number has it in the years that Weatherby used the Krieger Criterion for these. While not the best of the best, they do shoot and clean up nice. I have them in 223 and 22-350 and both are honest 1/2" guns after trigger work and bedding. (with reloads) The Bell and Carlson stock works pretty decent on the bags.

Again, thank you for the heads up on some issues.
 
My apologies, I assumed you had a Model 700 Remington.

Since the Weatherby Mk5 already has a Extractor similar to a Sako, and a plunger style Ejector, it might work with the slightly larger bolt nose counterbore. It's just .025 to the side difference.

If the Extractor tends to bind, you could try and dress behind the Extractor claw with a small Dremel Tool. But if has enough outward travel it might be OK.

Be warned. The pin that secures that Extractor can be pretty tight.

I think the ejector plunger will be fine.
 
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